Description
by William Miller.
The years between 1897 and 1927 were an era in which the maritime powers of the world vied for dominance on the high seas and first class passengers traveled in unprecedented splendour in what was then the largest and fastest ships ever built.
This sumptuous volume recalls the glorious early years of elegant transatlantic travel with over 190 historic photographs, depicts exterior and interior views of 101 ships including the Kaiser Wilhelm de Grosse (the first superliner 1897), the Virginian, Imperator, Vaterland, Bismarck, Lusitania, Titanic, Olympic, Britannic, Aquitania, Albertic, Laconia, etc. Superb vintage views recall the dazzling splendour of these “floating palaces”, the lavish interiors of lounges, smoking rooms, libraries, salons, ballrooms, suites and dining rooms decorated in Italian Renaissance, Spanish, Louis XVI, Georgian, Queen Anne, Tudor, Moorish, etc. Here is the sumptuous Turkish-style pool of the Olympic, the sensational Pompeian Bath and gymnasium on the Imperator and the Aquitania’s two-deck high Louis XVI first-class restaurant.
These first ocean giants have vanished, some scrapped, some sunk in wartime service, other destroyed in tragic accidents. This handsome volume recalls those glorious times and remains a permanent record of a splendid era when these magnificent vessels reigned as sovereigns of the sea.
147 pages. 193 black & white photographs. Softback.